98

123

PHILADELPHIA –– Throughout a losing streak that spanned 26 games, a number that tied an NBA record, Sixers head coach Brett Brown frequently stressed that his players would continue to battle despite the difficulty of their situation. Saturday night, his team did just that, defeating the Detroit Pistons 123-98 at home and notching their first ‘W’ since January 29.

Nationally, the win made headlines, but walking into the Sixers’ locker room after the game, it felt like any other night.

“We haven’t it once,” said Brown when asked after the game about the streak. “We’ve talked about, ‘Let’s bang out great days.’ And they’ll add up… That group’s staying together. They didn’t blink.”

Philadelphia took a 10-8 lead courtesy of a Michael Carter-Williams three five minutes into the game and never looked back, seeing that lead balloon to 33-23 by the end of the first quarter, 70-51 by halftime (setting a season-high for Sixers points in a half), and 98-68 by the end of the third quarter.

The Sixers got contributions from every player who saw action, from Michael Carter-Williams, who finished with 21 points (6/14 FG), seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals, to Jarvis Varnado, who set career highs in points (9) and blocks (6) in 21 minutes of action. Tony Wroten returned from an ankle injury that sidelined him for three games and dished out nine assists with just one turnover, Thaddeus Young contributed 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists, Henry Sims notched 16 points and seven rebounds, Casper Ware had eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 17 minutes…

“I learned a lot of good things [during the losing streak]. That I’ll never give up on my team, that my teammates will never give up on me, that we go in fighting every single day – in practices we go hard, and we just keep fighting,” said Carter-Williams after the game. “There was some emotion. I mean, of course we were happy to win again. It’s a great thing to be on the winning side.”

The Sixers return to action Monday at 7:30pm for a meeting with the Hawks in Atlanta.